Pre History
1.5 billion years ago granite mountains formed when India and Australia collided.
Meelup is the eroded relic core of that ancient granite mountain.
200 million years ago India and Australia split apart, the remaining mass formed what we call the Leeuwin Naturaliste block.
Faults in the crust we now call the Darling and Dunsborough Faults isolated the Leeuwin Naturaliste block from Gondwana land to the east.
This 10 Km deep fault gradually filled with silt and is what we call the Swan Coastal plain and the Marybrook flats.
​
​
​
​​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Long isolation of Meelup and its unusual Northerly aspect fostered unique plant populations
-Rock has weathered to a uniquely rich soil on Meelup coast producing unusually dense bush down to the beach
-Some plants survive as disjunct populations ( next population hundreds of Km away)
-There are endemic species (found nowhere else in the world)
-There are rare and endangered species surviving in this especially favourable environment
Sources “Geology of Western Australia’s National Parks” Peter Lane 2004
“ Geology and landforms of the SW” Dept. CALM Bush books 2001
Darling and Dunsborough Faults
Leeuwin Block
Swan Coastal Plain Scott Coastal Plain
Blackwood Plateau
​
Andrew Webb
A Cultural Landscape
"Meelup is the Wadandi name for this area, referring to meeka (the moon) that features in our stories for this place. This area is culturally and ecologically connected to a network of other cultural places and landforms extending along the coast and inland. The coastal reserve, the focus area of this Plan, sits in a wider cultural landscape, relating to a larger cultural corridor. Evidence of human occupation at this place extends for thousands of years before present. The place contains important cultural ecological values, related to a variety of coastal granite and wetland habitats that host significant cultural plants and animals forming part of the heritage and identity of Wadandi Custodians.
Meelup Healthy Country Plan
Undalup Association and Applied Archaeology
Non Indigenous History
The land was originally claimed by Captain James Stirling about 1830. Stirling liked the look of the area so much he claimed land along the coast for his personal property which would later become Meelup Regional Park. When Stirling left Western Australian in 1832 to be knighted, he never returned, and the land was never settled, it remained in its natural state until it returned to the Crown upon his death in 1865. The area was originally nine separate reserves set aside for various activities such as gravel and timber extraction and a rubbish tip, it was used for fishing, camping and horse riding.
Meelup Aerial 1941 Frank Eckers
Whaling at Castle Bay
A century and a half ago when there was no electric light, people relied on lamps for light at night, and the fuel they used was whale oil.
Thus one of the first commercial industries of Dunsborough was the harpooning of whales and rendering the blubber down to whale oil.
At Castle Bay in the mid 19th century two whaling companies were formed, Hurford and Penny and Habgood and Viveash.
A diary kept by the Seymour family shows that W.F. Seymour in 1846 worked for Habgood and Viveash as boat builder, cooper and chief headsman.
In 1846 sperm whales came into Geograpahe Bay, a rare occurrence according to the diary.
Six men in a boat, four actually rowing, would go out and chase them. On August 14, 1846, three boats went out with their harpoons and “Palmer killed two, Pettit two and Clements three.”
A whale could be 15 metres long. It would be towed back to shore for flensing.
One season yielded 190 tonnes of oil, worth 500 pounds or $1,000 in 1850s values.
American whalers started visiting the coast, and when Bunbury harbour authorities put a tax on all shipping through their port Yankee whalers put into Geographe Bay where they bartered shoes and many other articles for farm produce.
You can get details of this from a cairn on the shore of Castle Bay.
Ely J 1985
Click the text to take you to the articles
From Wadandi Cultural Custodians
Kaya Nala Nitja Wadandi Boodja “Gnwirri Jinnung”. Welcome to this beautiful place on Wadandi Country.
Since the “Beginning”, salt water or Wadandi people have lived as part of the environment.
During Bunuru-Djeran season (March-June) we’ve looked to the sky, watching & listening for flocks of “Cowara-Lorikeet’s” to tell us Ngaralung-Herring are close to the shore. Soon the “Manitj-Black &white cockatoo” would start heading for the coast, flying in large numbers, shouting loudly. The local families would tell each other “Salmon on the beach, let’s bulloka(go)!
Ngari-Salmon was always a fun time, we could camp on the beaches & amongst the sheltered bays, where “Karla”- camp fires would keep coals & ash ready for ngari-salmon to be cooked & shared. Ngari was placed whole, straight onto the hot ashes. Nothing was wasted, with the gorabil, karta, nyoorginyut, meil & meeril (stomach, head, brains, eyes & liver being the favoured portion for the
“Old People”. Life was simple. If you had family, shelter, fire & food, life was kwabba-good. After a day of saltwater & sun, “Numbi-wah-stories of the day were sung & danced. With full bellies & stoked up fires we would “Ngoondy bidjar gedaluk-lay down & go to sleep as night fell, knowing that Djilgit dartja-fish meet was Boola-Plenty.
Celebrations with traditional dancing music and storytelling are a part of this seasonal change, also indicating the right time to burn the bush using traditional fire farming methods bring fertility back to the soil and dispersing native seeds for germination and existing species help to flower and fruit.
We are fortunate to still enjoy the natural cultural landscape of this diverse region, please take care while visiting the Meelup Regional Park and only leave your foot prints in the sand.
SALMON FISHING AND THE EAGLE BAY FISH FACTORY
WEST COAST SALMON FISHERY
The fishery stretched from Hamelin Bay in the south to Bunbury in the north. Australian Salmon (Arripis trutta) are caught from March to May during their annual spawning run from The Great Australian Bight up the West Australian coastline and return. The fish are partial spawners meaning they will school up when conditions permit, fertilising eggs which drift with currents as far back as South Australia. When the fish reach 3-4 years of age they start the annual migration. They live for approximately 7 years.
In past years, South Australian fishermen used to catch 2,000 tonne per year of the smaller salmon trout; the South Coast Fishery based at Albany took 1,000 tonne per year and this West Coast Fishery averaged 500 tonne per year. In WA the fish were canned for human consumption by Hunt's Canning in Albany and Gardiners/Tropical Traders/West Ocean Canning in Perth.
After cleaning, the heads were kept for Rock Lobster bait. The Canneries have all since closed leaving few markets, dictating less effort by the professional fishermen. All the northern beaches east of Cape Naturaliste, including Eagle Bay, were closed to professional salmon netting in 2010.
The majority of salmon were caught from the shore by a method called beach seine. This involved a net being rowed out to encircling the school and then manually hauling the net and fish back to shore. Over the years, teams have operated from Hamelin Bay, Smith's Beach, Bunker Bay, Eagle Bay, Meelup and Fisheries Bay by the original fishermen and their descendants. plus Bob Jones who started in the 70s. Several families (Harris, Smith, Lear and Oldfield) caught fish from boats by ring netting/purse seining the fish. Six SW Salmon Fishing Licences were still current in 2016.
Photos courtesy of the Dunsborough Chamber of Commence
“EAGLE BAY SYNDICATE”
Joyce Miles (wife of the Lighthouse Keeper and Syndicate member, Vince) recalls:
“In 1949 local fishermen Jack Couch and Noel Wright asked Arthur Peak, Dave Reid, Jack Farrell and Vince Miles to join them as there were a lot of salmon and the hauling was all done by manpower and the cleaning by men and women. The Bunbury based Soulos family (Nick, Luca, Emanuel and Mick) turned up to spread the workload and the Eagle Bay Syndicate was formed.”
"These pioneers salvaged left over war items (camouflage nets and 4x4 trucks), built the access roads in to most of the fishing spots and built the three sheds. Initially the fish were hand cleaned on the beach, loaded in trucks and covered in ice before cartage to Perth. "
THE FISH FACTORY
Here remain the cement foundations of three buildings built by the Eagle Bay Syndicate in 1949 and used up until the mid-1960’s. The western structure, complete with drainage channels and loading dock, was where the salmon were cleaned. A 12m x 4m shed next door stored fishing equipment, a generator and sleeping quarters. A third smaller timber stud and flywire lined hut known as “The Bakery” was used for preparing meals.
Jack Couch and Len Simmonds made a mechanical salmon cleaning machine which sped up the process of beheading and gutting the fish. This salmon cleaning table had a circular saw and wire brush cleaning wheel at alternate ends and was powered by a small Villiers petrol engine. George Smith (local farmer/fisherman who helped pioneer the fishery in Hamelin Bay) wrote that having the cleaning machine enabled fishers to get fish processed in a quarter of the time spent hand cleaning. “Meant fish were delivered fresher and cut down on the ice bill.”
Photo courtesy of David Couch
Joyce Miles and Jack Couch recall:
“The biggest haul at Eagle Bay was in 1956 when about 200 tonne of fish were driven in at speed from 1.5 miles out by sharks and dolphins putting 2 tons of fish high and dry on the beach. Every net on the beach was run around them including the 'Iron Curtain' an ex-army camouflage net. That was at 4pm and a remarkable achievement was that 17 trucks including 2 semi-trailers from Waroona had been loaded with cleaned fish by 9.30 next morning. It was the practice for anyone who could come at a moments notice to be very welcome to come and clean for 10 shillings an hour. People in those days in this district mainly had cows to milk so after milking it was salmon cleaning.”
They cleaned 76 tonne (about 254 fish per tonne or 19,300 fish) then let the remaining fish go as the Cannery had been flooded. “Of course at this stage of salmon fishing there were cleaning sheds and a portable setup outside, but prior to this we would sit on the beach and hand clean and wash. All offal was buried on the beach at one stage and the first storm washed the beach away and the offal.”
Wayne Webb (Aboriginal traditional custodian) recalls his experience as a kid:
“During salmon season, on the weekends we would get taken to Eagle Bay to the 'Salmon Camp' where we camped, pulling the nets and loading up the old army truck we called Forby. As kids we were not allowed to use the 'circular saw' which used to cut the heads off salmon and gut them, but with a wire brush we could clean them up taking great delight in being covered head to toe in fish blood, scales and guts.”
In 1985 the Public Works Department proposed a Harbour to be built at Point Piquet
All the preparations were done, sources of rocks were found by drilling in the hills above; almost everyone was in favour.
The National Trust were one of the few voices of dissension, they said among other things "The beauty and tranquil atmosphere, which has the potential to draw visitors from all over the world, could easily be destroyed”
Fortunately it was shelved on recommendation from the Environmental Protection Agency
Curtis Bay and the birth of Meelup Regional Park
The next attempt to build a harbour at Curtis Bay and develop the degraded areas behind the golf course came about 1988 when a developer proposed a land swap to build a Harbour and subdivide the hillsides above including the Golf Course.
Again this almost was achieved but there was a group of towns people who understood the importance of this area for future generations and opposed the proposal.
They organised rallies and petitions and forced the Shire into a referendum on the issue.
The Referendum was overwhelmingly against the development (Voting 9 to 1 against).
​
The Shire and our local Member of Parliament Mr Barry Blaikie made sure that the area was retained. The 9 reserves were amalgamated into one A Class Reserve and the land vested in the Shire for the purposes of “Conservation and Recreation” to be managed by a Committee of citizens and according to a Management Plan approved by the Minister.
That was in 1993
